New Distribution Capability (NDC) promises to change the way airlines distribute their fares and ancillary product. While the adoption has been slow, the changes can be felt through the travel industry. The most recent example of this was the introduction of “continuous pricing” by Lufthansa Group which includes Lufthansa, Swiss, and Austrian whereby airlines can offer optimal prices based on customer demands.
Lufthansa Airlines NDC API:
Airlines Technology (AT) by TWAI is an aviation specialized travel technology company that provides NDC (New Distribution Capability) based aggregation and IT services to airlines, travel agents, and 3rd party vendors in the travel industry.
American Airlines NDC API:
TWAI is the only Technology Company that provides American Airlines NDC API
Emirates Airlines NDC API:
Emirates Gateway, starting from 01 July 2021. A surcharge on all bookings made via Global Distribution Systems (GDS) will also kick in on the same day. Twai is also here the first Technology provider start Emirates NDC API.
Benefits of using Airlines Technology by TWAI
Airlines Technology has been involved with NDC for almost 5 years and has the experience to deliver a world-class solution for you. With almost 23 airlines already connected into a single API and more integrations coming down the pipe, you can rest assured that you will always have the latest NDC solution available at your fingertips.
Further, with their recent acquisition by TWAI, you can now use a single white-label product AccessOne, which eliminates the need for an NDC API integration on your end. You simply deploy a white-label solution connected to the GDS’ of your choice as well as NDC within weeks.
Website: https://www.twai.com/
http://www.airlinestechnology.com/
Contact Number: +1 248-793-0000
What is NDC:
The NDC (New Distribution Capability) standard, created by IATA, is a distribution standard in XML format aimed at facilitating the exchange of data between airlines and business travel agencies. NDC provides several capabilities:
✅ It allows airlines to publish and communicate more personalized and dynamic offers.
✅ It allows TMCs (Travel Management Companies) to offer travelers additional services (additional luggage, more room for legs, a more expensive meal, access to lounges in the airport, etc.).
NDC is a recent IATA standard. Although it is not mandatory, Airlines will one day need to comply with it, under pressure from indirect channels such as OTA (Online Travel Agencies) and GDS (Global Distribution Systems).
The most strategic advantage of NDC for airline companies is the ability to bypass the GDS and have access to the value-added information on the customer profile. Before NDC, airline companies published fares, schedules and availability information to GDS, TMC and OTA, and had virtually no contact with the end customer and no ability to provide the customer with tailored services, add-ons and specific prices.
NDC adoption is supported by both revenue increase and cost-cutting drivers. Capabilities that drive revenues include:
✅ Product attributes (differentiation): the ability to show competitive features that may be unique to the offer and therefore drive a purchase decision.
✅ Fare Families: displaying multiple price points, with increased value, may drive “upsells.”
✅ Ancillaries: displaying additional products (e.g., lounge access) may drive a purchase decision.
NDC is an opportunity for cutting costs, as it can be a trigger for modernizing often decades-old infrastructure and lowering supplier prices by increasing competition.
Airline companies adopt NDC mainly to stand out from the competition, and to increase revenue opportunities offered by additional products. They can use NDC in several ways, such as developing tailor-made offers for each customer account (flight + lounge, for example) and integrating third-party content (flight + shuttle service).
Target: 80% of passengers
The adoption of NDC is well underway. Over 40 airlines have already deployed, and two-thirds of the remaining are in the process of developing projects. TWAI is Certified by IATA to provide NDC
IATA hopes that by 2020, airlines representing 80% of passengers will have adopted the new standard, which is updated every six months.
British Airways, and its subsidiary Iberia, for example, have decided to charge a fee of £8 for each reserved rate on systems that do not use a New Distribution Capability (NDC) connection. The supplement will come into effect from November 2017 on tariffs for all types of cabins and classes.
How to implement IATA NDC
NDC is a set of standard XML messages that allow the airline back-office to communicate with partners such as TMCs, OTAs, GDS and interline partner airlines.
The communication is done via an API, that is securely published and made available for external calls.
Source: IATA, TWAI, Airline Technology, API Friends, Google, Emirates, Lufthansa, American Airlines etc
